


A New Chapter

by bookscape



Category: Man from Atlantis, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 05:22:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20304139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookscape/pseuds/bookscape
Summary: Seaview gains a new crew member, one with unusual abilities.





	A New Chapter

The storm had been a violent one; a New Year’s Eve to remember. Admiral Harriman Nelson gazed at the clearing sky and then back toward the beach a hundred yards behind his bungalow. 

Debris littered almost the entire stretch between his house and the still angry water. White-capped waves crashed against the rocks. The short pier looked to be even shorter. Harriman frowned and then sighed. He’d have the workmen add reinforcement, but he knew when nature rampaged sometimes no amount of reinforcement would withstand her fury. 

The sun behind him broke through the clouds shooting beams like spotlights on the white caps. Harriman started as he saw something out of place. The object dragged itself out of the waves, then fell as the next round swept him off his feet. It was a man, but how the devil could someone swim out in that? Unless he was one of those crazy surfers who thought a storm at sea was something created for their pleasure. Harriman could see Seaman Riley try a morning surf. 

By now, Harriman was running across what was left of the manicured lawn to the sand. The man didn’t move. Nelson hoped the swimmer hadn’t made it to the beach only to die before he got help. He wished he could run faster, but the sand and debris caused him to slip and stumble. As he drew closer, Harriman realized this was no one he knew. The man was clad only in tight fitting swim trunks. There were a few scratches on his arms and legs, but nothing serious. If he had been surfing at the public beach, the swimmer was lucky to be alive. That was five miles up the coast. Clouds galloped like horses across the sun. 

The admiral now saw that the stranger appeared to be breathing; he was probably just too tired to drag himself any further onto land. The man rolled over onto his back and before Nelson could say anything, the man sat up and gazed at him. The admiral halted. This man had the most intense green eyes he had ever seen. Not just that, but they seemed to lack normal pupils. The sun came out again and the man held his hand over his face. 

“Are you all right?” 

More clouds and the swimmer lowered his hand. He studied Nelson intently, as though trying to place him. The man had the build of an Olympic swimmer, lithe and muscular without being, what was the term, pumped? The only body hair was on the newcomer’s head—dark and thick—and dark eyebrows. 

“Are you all right?” Harriman repeated. 

The swimmer stood up, his movements graceful, despite obvious exhaustion. “You are Admiral Harriman Nelson?”

There was something vaguely familiar about the young man, as though Nelson had seen his picture somewhere, but he knew he had never met him before. The voice was even, emotionless, but there was a hint of trepidation.

Nelson felt no threat from this man, even though the admiral sensed something powerful about him. “Yes, I am.”

The green-eyed man held out his hand. There was skin between each finger and Harriman now realized who this was. 

“I am Mark Harris. I have been looking for you this past week.”

“But the Cetacean. The accident. It was lost with all hands.”

“Yes, but I was not on board.” Harris paused. “And I do not believe it was an accident.”

“It wasn’t?” Harriman was speechless. He had received Dr. Elizabeth Merrill’s packet just days before what was now being called the Christmas Day disaster. That was where he had seen the information about Mark Harris. Elizabeth had wanted to share info about the science vessel and her crew. The Cetacean was a marvel of scientific engineering, created by a civilian just as he had created Seaview. The big difference was that Seaview was available for the good of mankind. The creator of the Cetacean was a megalomaniac named Mr. Schubert bent on domination by destroying most of the world. 

The Cetacean had fallen into the hands of Dr. Merrill’s scientific center when Mr. Schubert’s plot was thwarted. The full story of that incident never hit the newsstands, but it was in the packet Elizabeth had sent him. When word of the destruction of Cetacean reached him, Harriman had set the folder aside. After all, the reason for the exchange of information had been Cetacean’s ability to descend to incredible depths. Since the prevailing theory on the destruction of the vessel was based on hull integrity and the depth at which she had been traveling, Nelson had seen no point in continuing. It had also been too painful; he had worked with Dr. Merrill and he respected and liked her. 

“No, it wasn’t. The Cetacean imploded in a way that seemed—unnatural.”

“Let’s talk inside my house.”

Harris nodded. They walked in silence until they entered the bungalow. Harriman had a multitude of questions, but since he had not read all the information, he wasn’t sure what to ask first. “Would you like some coffee?”

“No, thank you.”

“Is there something I can get you, Mr. Harris?”

“No, Admiral. I can get what I need from the sea. And please call me Mark.”

“I have to admit, Mark,” Nelson began, looking sheepish. “That I didn’t finish reading Dr. Merrill’s report.”

“Elizabeth told me to come to you if something happened to her.” Mark gazed out the window at the still angry waves. “She didn’t go on the two previous scientific missions. She was on this last one, though.”

“Why not the two previous?”

“I do not know. She flew to Washington, D.C. She only said that it was to see someone important, but when she came back she seemed different.”

“How?”

“As though . . . as though we were strangers at times.”

“But she sent me information about the Cetacean,” Harriman thought out loud. “Why would she do that if under outside influence?”

“Outside influence?”

“Someone controlling her,” Nelson explained.

“Ah, that is possible. Mr. Shubert had devices that controlled people. They did not work on me.”

“I’m going to call someone to check into what Dr. Merrill might have been doing while she was away.”

“Do you think Elizabeth might have destroyed the Cetacean?”

“If she was under some kind of control, yes.” 

“But she insisted that I go out and collect data during the rest period,” Mark said. 

“Had she ever done anything like that before?”

“Yes, but not the way she did this time.”

Harriman rubbed his chin. “How different?”

“It was something I had already done earlier in the day.”

“Perhaps the data wasn’t complete,” Nelson suggested. 

“Perhaps, but Decker had told me the specimens I gathered earlier were perfect. And I know Elizabeth,” Mark insisted. 

“She was trying to protect you.” 

Mark nodded. “Elizabeth always tried to protect me from those in your world who would hurt me.”

Nelson punched in Lee’s number. It wasn’t long before Seaview’s captain picked up. “Lee, can you use your contacts to check on the whereabouts of a civilian scientist who occasionally did Navy contract work?”

“I can try, Admiral. Who are we looking for?”

Harriman turned back to Mark. “When was she away?”

“The month of October. She never said with whom.”

“Dr. Elizabeth Merrill. October last. Presumably Washington, D.C. but there is no guarantee that was the final destination.”

“Merrill? Wasn’t she one of the scientists killed last week?” Crane queried.

“Yes, but see what you can find out.”

“Aye, aye, Admiral.”

“Thank you,” Mark said when Harriman hung up. 

“Again, I have to apologize. I think it’s important that I finish that report before going any further. Please, make yourself at home while I finish reading.”

“Do what you need to do, Admiral Nelson.”

Harriman strode into his office and opened the safe, where he had stowed the information. He dug out the sheet on Mark Harris and began reading as he walked back to the living room. The rest of the folder was under his arm. 

Harris was staring at the churning waves. 

“You have no recollection of anything before you met Dr. Merrill?”

Mark turned back to answer. “No, I still don’t. It was a storm much like the one last night.”

Harriman read more. No wonder Elizabeth worked so hard to protect Harris. He was totally unique, a water being capable of breathing underwater and diving to incredible depths. 

“You were the main force behind the acquisition of the Cetacean. You stayed with the organization even when you could have gone back into the ocean.”

“I could have. Elizabeth promised I would be free to go. But where? I do not know where to look.”

“Why would Dr. Merrill want you to come to me?”

“Elizabeth spoke very much of your abilities; of your passion for discovery. She said you were a man of great courage and integrity.”

Nelson blushed slightly. “I felt the same way about her and her work. I had hoped to share a project with her someday….”

“I also hope you can find out what happened to Elizabeth that made her act as she did. That is if she was the one who destroyed Cetacean.”

“I want to find out as well, Mark. If it becomes a matter of a sea search, would you be willing to join my crew?”

“On your submarine? Yes, I will at least try.”

“Good enough. There are quarters on Institute grounds or you can use my guest room. It is close to the ocean.”

“That is all right with you?”

“I think that would help us get to know each other better. And it might help you decide if you want to stay here.”

Mark turned away again. “Why would someone want a vessel like Cetacean destroyed?”

“Perhaps not the boat, but the crew,” Harriman suggested. 

“And me?”

“Possibly.” Nelson poured a cup of fresh coffee and sat down. He took a sip. “I think it might be a good idea to keep knowledge of your survival limited to my crew for now.”

“They will do that?”

“Oh, eventually someone will say something without thinking, but I don’t have a loose-lipped group working for me. And hopefully by then, we’ll have solved this mystery.”

“Thank you, Admiral Nelson. Hopefully, I will be of service to you and your submarine.”

For some reason, Nelson felt that was a pretty fair possibility.


End file.
